The Diameter protocol is a next generation authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) protocol. The Diameter base protocol is defined in IETF RFC 6733, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Commonly used within the Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) architecture, the Diameter protocol was derived from the remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) protocol. However, while RADIUS is based on UDP which is connectionless and unreliable transport, Diameter is based on reliable connection oriented transport (TCP and SCTP). Congestion and other communication issues (e.g., link failure) can prevent or hinder Diameter messages from reaching an appropriate destination. If a Diameter request message or a corresponding answer message is lost or undelivered, problems can arise. For example, Diameter messages may be used to authenticate subscribers for service access. If subscribers are not authenticated, the subscribers may be denied service access. Hence, to reduce problems associated with Diameter message delivery, it is important that Diameter nodes are made aware of Diameter peer status information, such as node availability information, path availability information, and congestion information.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for transmitting Diameter peer status information.